The Brigade - The Board Game of Fantasy Firefighting

AU$ 144,980

2,256

Where a magical fire storm has appeared above the Pyromancers University and fireballs are raining down on the city.

Take control one of four rival fire wardens and build up your brigade to protect the citizens of Tinderbox.

Putting out fires will earn the loyalty of the townsfolk and see you elected to the position of Fire Chief of Tinderbox, and win the game.

The Town of Tinderbox is represented by a grid of unique location tiles randomly placed around the Pyromancers University. Each player starts in a fire house on one corner of the board.

At the start of each turn a player draws an event card to determine which locations the falling fireballs are landing on.

During the game players spend actions to move their crew and water wagon around the city managing their water resources to control the outbreaks

When a crew successfully extinguishes a blaze they can spread word of their heroic deeds to gain the loyalty of key locations in the town.

Get enough loyal location tiles and you win the game. But you better move quick, if too many buildings burn down the town will be evacuated!

While fighting the impending inferno will be enough to keep any hero on their toes a strategic player can spend some actions to upgrade their Fire House. This increases the amount of water their wagon can carry, the amount of actions they can take, and the size of their crew

New members add to the water carrying capacity of a crew and come with a unique special ability that could provide the winning edge. Everyone starts with a hardy Fire Warden to lead their crew, additional characters can be hired to improve a player's brigade.

The Brigade is for 2-4 players (Stretch goal for solo play) and lasts 10-15 minutes per player.

Custom Flame Shaped Meeples ! (Fleeples)

All Tile & Board Stock now 3mm with matt lamination - up from 2mm

All Card material is now 250gsm art paper with matt lamination - up from 200gsm

Co-Op rules added to "The Way of the Wardens" the new booklet that will contain all the rules for the unlocked play variants and Co-Op Hall of Fame records page. Co-Op expansion includes:

4 New events cards

14 Action Cards

32 Loyalty markers

Solo rules added to "The Way of the Wardens" and Solo Hall of Fame records page. Solo expansion includes:

The Big Buildings Pack adds 8 new location tiles and 8 new event cards to the game. 4 of these will be a new level 3 tile for each of the location types. You can use these to swap out the level 1 tiles to make the game more difficult or add them to the fringes of Tinderbox and expand the board! The 8 new event cards will include the new tile positions and make sure they receive their share of fireballs!

The other 4 buildings will have optional game effects when you gain their loyalty or when they are destroyed.

4 x Level 3 location tiles

4 x Unique game effect location tiles

8 x Expanded board event cards

This Stretch Goal delivers 6 new recruit cards with unique artwork by Nunoh! There will be a new character for each faction, plus the Dog crew member, as every good Brigade needs a trusty Dalmatian and the Cat card who can be recruited to stop an opponent from doing anything until it is rescued.

6 x New Crew Cards

Take your game to new levels with this easy to assemble papercraft 3D Pyromancers University, the perfect centerpiece to Tinderbox.

10 piece slotted assembly in 3mm board stock

We have also announced Advanced Mode with Warden abilities that cost an action to trigger, these will be on the reverse side of the warden cards.

The fire houses are also getting their own passive ability, it will be detailed on the flip side of the tracker boards. Side 2 of the Warden cards will be colourless so you can mix and match the different warden actions with the different firehouse powers.

The $70K stretch goal sees another round of improvement to all the cards with the addition of the much requested linen finish. We are also adorning the box with a gold foil logo to accompany Nunoh's amazing cover art and beefing up the tile and box density.

This Level unlocks 4 new Player Wardens all double sided with unique actions and all balanced to increase the options and deliver more strategy to Advanced mode.

While the fire rains down on Tinderbox sinister forces have taken control of the Pyromancers University and are enacting an ancient ritual to raise the first Phoenix and bring (more!) fiery devastation to Tinderbox (and most likely some of the the surrounding municipalities) who will stop this unholy rite ?

The campaign features 4 quests you can play using the Solo or Co-Op rules with custom components and cards to make each mission it's own unique challenge.

Rules for a 5 Player version of the Game:
As requested we are upgrading the 3 vs 1 version of the game to 4 vs 1 to allow for those of you with more friends to have more fun ! It's Wardens vs Pyromancer in the battle for Tinderbox!

Playable Pyromancer Warden:
Cindy Bustion; (former) Dean of the Pyromancer University has stepped down,
...and out into the streets! where she is gathering a crew of crazy thrill seekers, who fortunately happen to have their own buckets. Includes Warden Card with Special Warden ability

More Burnt Art:
We are commissioning additional art for the flip sides of the location cards so there is a custom burnt out building for each Block type including the Pyro University, that's 5 different styles of burnt out building instead of 1.

Pyromancer Block Effects:
Additional damage when Pyromancer Blocks are destroyed, (optional) rules on the flip side of the tiles illustrate the high price of letting a uni block go down!

New Fire Fueled Events: You will receive 4 New Event Cards to spice up the deck with brand new themed effects.

As you play through the maelstrom of The Brigade you may be too busy putting out fires, and winning the hearts of the people, to wonder:

Where did this Magical Firestorm come from? and

Why are there 4 Fire Brigades? and

What happened to the previous Fire Chief?or

Why do I have a Flying Water Cart?

But if you do find moment for pause one need look no further than the Tinderbox Times; the town’s most reputable (and only) newspaper, coming to you fresh with all the news that is fit to print, and quite a lot that is somewhat lacking in fitness.

These unlikely heroes have picked up their buckets and seized on the opportunity to become the saviors of Tinderbox, and in the process secure a steady paycheck as the town’s new Fire Chief. But who are they really?

Until very recently, Blitz Haben was a brigand and highwayman operating on the road to Flint, but was finally captured and sentenced to hard labour. But he has been pardoned by Mayor Munmf on the proviso that he now work protecting the assets of the Town Council. At first he was reluctant to muddy his hands with politics, considering it too dishonourable and degrading even for him, but has since swallowed his pride.

Tactics: : A sly man at heart, Haben intends to get ahead by sabotaging his rivals, foiling their plans at the worst possible times. He knows that timing is essential for his underhanded tricks to work, and understands the value of patience and secrecy.

The voluntary post of Protector Of The People is the most dangerous job in Tinderbox and invariably results in the untimely (yet spectacular) demise of all who have claimed the position. Nevertheless, the celebrated Frith Goldmane has recently sworn herself into this position, and Tinderbox residents have rallied behind her. Despite her naiveté, she is sincere in her cause and her passion has proven to be inspirational.

Tactics: Frith insist that the people of Tinderbox must work together in order to save the town. Her plan is to build a strong crew as efficiently as possible, even if she must recruit proven firefighters from other districts.

They say everyone has their price, and Glint Dampshot’s price has been met. What he lacks in fighting prowess he makes up for in business acumen, and his crew is probably the best funded brigade in Tinderbox; after all, his philosophy is that team is only as good as the tools and resources at its disposal. He has forged a contract with the Tinderbox Mercantile Guild and plans to honour it (as long as the money keeps rolling in.)

Tactics: Glint’s loyalty may be bought, but it is an honest trade. He plans to outclass his rivals early by swiftly upgrading his wagon and cementing his position with the Merchants. Once he has taken the initiative he intends to hold onto it.

If a job is going to be done at all it should be done properly, or so claims Dame Gloria Ignes, first of her name. But Gloria also knows that it is less important to perform a job than to be seen doing it, and she has made a habit of trying to be the first fire warden at any incident. Some say that she is more driven by the prestige of her position than any actual sense of obligation, but her media team assures us that she is a keen philanthropist.

Tactics: Gloria is an opportunist who relies on putting out fires early before they grow too large or her rivals show up. Her swiftness is her greatest asset and she will use this advantage as often as possible.

Special thanks to the Tinderbox Tourism board for sharing their local knowledge and highlighting some key locations around town:

The Arcane Puffer: No wizard can be truly relaxed without an elegant pipe to puff on next to a cosy fireplace. The artisans at The Arcane Puffer carve elaborate pipes tailored to suit the character of each of their customers.

Verna’s Pumpkin Patch: Verna supplies pumpkins to young cleaning ladies who hope to attract a fairy godmother. Fairy godmothers can be surprisingly picky when it comes to the art of transmuting vegetables.

Crazy Ali’s Flying Rug Emporium: Ali has the cheapest flying carpets within a thousand leagues, or so he says. Nobody has been able to test his claim for the rugs have an average range of a league-and-a-half before they mysteriously break down and need expensive repairs (Ali’s cousin owns the only local rug repair shop.)

Thing On A Stick!: Mad Onnel runs an outdoor kitchen where he sells food cooked on sticks. The menu changes daily. It’s cheap and usually only popular with drunk people.

Chests R Us: Doros Gildhammer is known to make the finest and sturdiest treasure chests in the world. She uses the best wood and the rarest metals to make each chest a work of art.

Giant’s Shoe Orphanage: A giant once left his shoe behind and eventually it became home to an orphanage. The elderly woman who runs the orphanage insists that she doesn’t teach the children how to pickpocket, though they do seem remarkable adept.

Harry’s Carnivorous Plant Nursery: Harry grows and sells enormous man-eating plants capable of devouring a human whole. That’s what the sign says, anyway. Nobody has seen Harry for a while.

Grandma Yentl’s coop: A fowlery where an old crone called Grandma Yentl breeds chicken-legged huts. There are several huts currently laying and a bunch of baby chick-cabins running around.

Other Locations in the process of being Illustrated:

The Unsinkable Behemoth: The Behemoth is the greatest ship ever built and is to be transported to the docks for her maiden voyage (due tomorrow). It would be a priceless tragedy were it to be consumed by the flames...

The Lumberjack’s Arms: A tavern frequented by burly men with beards. Known for its axes, leather jerkins, dancing, and cocktail list. Considered by many to be one of the best pubs in town.

Old Tom Oak: an immense tree-man who decided to take a short nap here and has been asleep ever since (the town built up around him.) Were he to catch fire he might wake up. Who knows how this powerful being will react?

Ericka Evans, Esq, Overtaker: Ms Evans specialises in building coffins for people who wish to be laid to rest six feet above the ground. Sadly, she has had very few customers. Her store has a surfeit of unused rickety coffins in stock slowly going to rot.

Karnaj the Bloody's Child Minding: Karnaj retired from slaughtering years ago and now minds the offspring of savage wanderers who are finding it difficult to balance professional pillaging commitments with the needs of raising a family.

Tempest Alchemy Kitchen: The Tempest Alchemists are obsessed with the art of quite literally cooking up a storm. They have a delicate collection of squalls, hurricanes, blizzards, monsoons, and cyclones all stored in glass bottles (Tinderbox laws actually forbid the containment of any atmospheric event stronger than a gust from being contained in glass for safety reasons.)

Serene Bird Monastery: The monks of this monastery help the angriest and most violent of warriors to suppress their bloodlust through meditation techniques based on folding paper cranes. The presence of these calming (and highly flammable) creations prevents such dangerous folk from flying into berserk rages.

Falariel Winterborn’s Frozen Exhibits: Known as one of the finest sculptors in the world, Falariel has brought her latest collection of ice sculptures to Tinderbox for public exhibit. The weather has been cold enough lately that the sculptures are in no harm of melting from anything other than magical flame…

Von Dredd’s Stakehouse: Professor Von Dredd was never a very successful vampire slayer, but his stakes have always been of exceptional quality. In retirement, he sells his finely carved “heartjabbers” for exorbitant prices to the most exclusive hunters of the undead.

The Tinderbox Times: A weekly news service that spends the majority of its word-count vocally questioning the need for so many fire brigades in a city of this size. They are on record as saying that there is little to no likelihood of a major fire occurring in Tinderbox in the foreseeable future.

Rufus Follycull and Sons, Wigmakers: The Follycull family specialise in providing realistic false beards to local dwarves. They are incredibly discreet and a number of high profile dwarves owe their surprisingly lush and youthful features to Rufus Follycull’s expertise.

Prince Frederick’s Ballroom: Prince Frederick has been collecting balls, orbs, globes and spheres all his life. His collection holds largely sentimental value. The prince is rather obsessed with his balls, much to the disappointment of his parents who would rather he married sometime soon.

The Miniscule Library: This library holds over a thousand books, none measuring more than an inch. Though the books are small, they hold immense power (none moreso than the dread Micronomicon.)

The Night Watch House: The city council was concerned about the great number of crimes committed every evening in Tinderbox, but are proud to announce that since reducing police funding the number of arrests has plummeted!

Ye Olde Signe Shoppe: Viggo the sign-maker is paid by the letter. He often earns a bit extra by adding the occasional “e” to the end of a word.

Madame Zazibella’s Fortunes: Wandering seer Madame Zazibella has parked her wooden wagon here. She charges a palm of silver to have futures revealed. She forecasts erratic winds, clear skies and a distinct lack of firestorms for the evening.

Ulaff the Whitesmith: Ulaff takes the novel approach of freezing her metals before striking them, which requires a magical forge of icy blue flames. It is far more expensive than using a regular forge and results aren’t really much different, but the markup is better.

Tinderbox Henchman’s Lodgehouse: Members of the Henchmen Minions and Underlings Union meet here to discuss ways to improve their working conditions. Mostly they make signs and complain.

Red Genie Games was released on the world to bring you original, thematic games and other magical pieces of creative collaboration. Red Genie Games was formed in Melbourne in 2015 at a local board game design incubator.

The Brigade is our first published game as Red Genie but we have an established pedigree of game crafting and design. Click for more on our Facebook page: facebook.com/redgeniegames

Alex Wynnter is the Creative Director of Red Genie Games and a very busy dude.

Along with recent fatherhood he juggles podcasting, designing and developing games, teaching design, managing the TGDA Facebook group and generally being a man about town in the Australian board gaming community.

Ebony (being extremely supportive), Tristan (for all the marketing hoohaa), Ivan and Ben (for the awesome creative ideas that really made the town live), The South Australia prototype guys, the TGDA, Sam and Cal from The Videoshop Podcast, The Dice Men Cometh, Shepparcon and Karl Lange, Jamie, Bernad, Brendan and Shroo, German rules translations by Stefanie Schnitzler-Moll, Polish translation by Artificial Intelligence Liro, The Melbourne Incubator Crew, Deirdre, Joel, Kim and all the peeps on FB who gave us feedback on the campaign, Frith, Scout and Archer for all the support, patience and play-testing.

And you for reading our entire campaign page!

Risks and challenges

This might be Red Genie’s first Kickstarter project, but the team have been researching, and researching, and, yep, researching. Our time studying means that we are in the best possible place to get everything right. The experience of the team means that we will see this project through. While there will always be elements of risk to any project we will work to overcome them all to ensure you get what you paid for.

Printing and Manufacturing
Red Genie’s Creative Director Alex Wynnter is an experienced and highly skilled designer with over 14 years in the industry. Alex has the knowledge to deliver a high-quality product. He has produced and printed games for many other companies. We believe that this combination of experience and skills will result in the best possible outcome for you.

Shipping and Fulfillment
Red Genie are firm believers in getting the right people for the right job. To fulfill this project, we are outsourcing shipping to a professional organisation. We have chosen a highly skilled and experienced company to ensure your deliver gets to you without any issues or hiccups.

Anything Else?
If you are worried about any aspect of our campaign, please send us a message, we will be happy to answer any questions you have to make sure you feel confidant in what we are doing for you